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Unions celebrate staff pay cut victory

Unite has welcomed an employment tribunal decision to overturn a controversial move by Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust to cut the pay of staff who took time off sick. The NHS trust was challenged over a new rule that any employ …

Unite has welcomed an employment tribunal decision to overturn a controversial move by Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust to cut the pay of staff who took time off sick.

The NHS trust was challenged over a new rule that any employee off sick on four or more occasions in a year or for 18 or more days in total, would lose that year’s incremental pay rise.

The trust withheld increments from staff whose reasons for taking sick leave included being physically assaulted by a patient, and recovering from major surgery. The tribunal found that this constituted an unlawful deduction of pay and that the trust must repay those deductions to the claimants.

Unite in conjunction with the RCN and UNISON lodged tribunal cases on behalf of scores of staff who were not paid their incremental rise.

Unite national officer for health Rachael Maskell said: “This is a massive victory. It stops employers from pulling away from the national Agenda for Change agreement. It is simply outrageous that an employer should seek to withhold pay because a member of staff is sick. This ruling sends out a clear message that hardworking staff cannot be taken for granted and their terms and conditions rode roughshod over.”